The present invention relates to a front vehicle-body structure of a vehicle.
An automotive vehicle as vehicles comprises a pair of right-and-left side frames extending longitudinally at a front portion of a vehicle body and a bumper beam extending in a vehicle width direction and attached to front ends of the pair of right-and-left side frames. Further, the automotive vehicle comprises a protecting member including a stiffener (which may be called a lower bumper beam) which extends in the vehicle width direction below the bumper beam in order that when the vehicle collides with an obstacle, particularly a leg portion of a pedestrian, the obstacle (pedestrian's leg portion) is restrained from coming in below a vehicle-body front portion.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2011-063096 discloses a stiffener which is configured such that its central portion in the vehicle width direction is stepwise partially low so as to ensure a large opening area of a radiator opening formed at a vehicle's front end. This stiffener is configured in an elevational view to comprise a central horizontal portion horizontally extending substantially straightly at a low level, a pair of vertical portions rising upward substantially vertically from both-side ends of the central horizontal portion, and an end-portion horizontal portion horizontally extending substantially straightly outward in the vehicle width direction from each upper end of the vertical portions.
A shape of the stiffener of the above-described patent document is preferable in ensuring the large opening area of the radiator opening. However, since this stiffener has plural step portions which bend substantially at a right angle in the elevational view, it may be necessary to make its plate thickness considerably large (i.e., thick) to ensure a sufficient strength of the step portions, so that the weight of the stiffener may become unavoidably heavy. Accordingly, some countermeasures have been desired in this regard.